‘Don’t collect premium over Rs50,000 in cash’

Hyderabad: The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (Irda) on Wednesday asked insurance companies not to accept premium beyond Rs50,000 in cash in order to check money laundering.

“With a view to ensure that premiums are paid out of clearly identifiable sources of funds, it has been decided that remittances of premium by cash should not exceed Rs50,000,” Irda said in a statement. It would be advisable for the firms to evolve even lower thresholds for cash transactions, it said. The instructions emphasise strict adherence to the ceiling, with the clear focus to check possible attempts of money laundering.

Irda warned that it will be constrained to take serious action against the insurers where the violations of anti-money laundering framework are permitted with their tacit approval.